


Vacancy

by heyjupiter



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Minor Bruce Banner/Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Multi, Post-Avengers (2012), Science Bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 18:33:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19818103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyjupiter/pseuds/heyjupiter
Summary: All of Bruce's possessions used to fit in his duffel bag, but not anymore. Fortunately, Stark Tower has plenty of space available.





	Vacancy

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Science Bros Week Day 1, "Dust." 
> 
> Thanks to volunteerfd for beta reading! Sorry not sorry for continuing to exist in a state of Endgame denial!

It started with a toothbrush. Bruce wasn't particularly well-versed in American pop culture, but even he knew that was a romantic comedy cliche. But it was true. When he'd first started sharing a bed with Tony and Pepper, he'd always retreated back to his own suite in the morning. It wasn't far, after all--just a short trip on one of Stark Tower's express elevators. It didn't seem worth the trouble to move any of his few possessions. 

Besides, Bruce liked having his own space. He still couldn't quite believe his recent good fortune, and he appreciated having some quiet time to process it all. 

But then one morning a new bright green toothbrush appeared in Tony and Pepper's bathroom, and Pepper off-handedly said, "You can keep your things up here, you know. So you don't always have to run off first thing."

"I, um, thanks," Bruce had stammered. He brushed his teeth at their shiny, futuristic sink and tried to stay calm. After his years on the run, Bruce was still impressed by reliable access to clean running water; the polished sink fixtures were really overwhelming. The penthouse's big space-age shower was almost enough to give him a panic attack with all its dials and jets.

Tony appeared in the mirror behind him and rested his head on Bruce's shoulder. Bruce smiled around his new toothbrush and awkwardly leaned away from Tony to spit into the sink. After he rinsed his mouth, Tony promptly grabbed Bruce's face in his hands and pulled him in for a kiss.

"Mm, minty fresh," Tony breathed, grinning like he'd gotten away with something.

Bruce ducked his head. "Uh, I'm gonna go get dressed."

"You could bring your clothes up here too, you know. All...three of them."

"I have more than three clothes. Pepper got me some stuff."

"Okay, fine, all ten of your clothes. We have plenty of room." Tony gestured an arm out vaguely, indicating not only the huge bathroom but also the rest of the freshly-renovated penthouse.

"Yeah, I guess you do." Bruce shifted on his feet, angling for the door.

Tony gave him a piercing look and another quick kiss. "Well, think about it."

Bruce had nodded and gone back to his suite and deliberately _not_ thought about it. It would hurt too much if he got attached to this new home, this new way of life, and then had to leave it.

But over time, his things did start to accumulate in the penthouse. The bedside table filled up with his reading material. As his laundry began to intertwine with Tony and Pepper's, his clothes ended up first in their own drawer in Tony's dresser, and eventually his own dresser that appeared in the bedroom one day, as if by magic. (For a certain value of "his clothes," anyway--his clothes and Tony's tended to mingle, which was mostly due to the housekeeper's confusion. But also, when Bruce had first arrived at Stark Tower, Tony had lent him some things and never seemed that interested in reclaiming them. Even before they'd gotten together romantically, Bruce had found something reassuring about wearing Tony's soft, faded T-shirts, and so some of those remained in Bruce's wardrobe.)

Months later, Bruce was wearing one of Tony's T-shirts when he awoke, sluggish and disoriented after a Hulk-out. He looked around and determined that he was in the penthouse. He bit back a pinch of disappointment when he realized he was alone. He'd somehow already gotten used to someone being there when he woke up after a transformation, even though he had no reason to expect that, to deserve that. Waking up in this soft bed alone was still infinitely better than most of the places he'd woken up post-Hulk, even without a partner by his side.

He sat up in bed and stretched. Physically, he felt fine. Mentally, things were a bit foggy. Both of those were usual for the morning after. He looked around and tried to piece together memories from the day before. Was Tony hurt? Was Pepper with him? No, Pepper had been in LA all week, hadn't she? Had anyone else been hurt? Had Bruce hurt anyone? He vaguely remembered getting home last night. Tony had been with him, had helped him clean up before collapsing into bed. So where was Tony now?

JARVIS said, "Dr. Banner, may I direct your attention to the bedside table?"

"Huh...oh, thanks, JARVIS." Bruce looked and saw a bottle of water and a Clif bar. Coconut chocolate chip, Bruce's favorite.

"Master Stark asked me to convey a message when you awoke. Would you like to hear it?"

"Yeah, yes, of course. Is he okay?"

"Master Stark sustained some mild contusions but required no serious medical treatment. His message to you is as follows: 'Hey, Bruce, sorry, couldn't sleep any more. I'm fine. I'm in the workshop. Pepper's still in Los Angeles. She's fine too. Better than fine, since she didn't get hit in the face by Jabba the Hutt. Come find me when you wake up, or call me if you need anything.'" JARVIS then gave a startling audio approximation of a blown kiss. 

Bruce smiled and shoved the Clif bar in his mouth, desperately seeking to put a dent in his post-transformation hunger. "Thanks, JARVIS." He ate the bar and took a long drink of water. "Hey, JARVIS? Do you have any footage from...um, from yesterday's battle? Like from Tony's suit?"

JARVIS hesitated--just for a second, but normally his replies came instantaneously. "Of course, sir. Would you like to see it?"

"Please." 

JARVIS began to play the unedited stream captured by Tony's suit. Once Tony and Steve understood how upsetting Bruce found Hulk's carnage, they'd begun showing him only carefully edited footage from Avengers missions. But Bruce couldn't help but be curious. He watched the full video like he was poking at a loose tooth to see if it still hurt.

Bruce sipped his water while watching what Tony had seen of yesterday's battle. They'd been called to fight some weird sentient goo; Hulk got increasingly frustrated as he punched right through it to no avail. Bruce watched as Tony and Thor figured out a way to electrify the goo. Hulk didn't seem to have been particularly useful that time around; but he didn't seem to have hurt anyone, and he listened to Steve's orders. Bruce was starting to actually believe the rest of the Avengers' assurances that Hulk was a team player. 

Unprompted, JARVIS said, "If it isn't clear from the footage, there were no civilian casualties. I thought you'd like to know."

"Y-yes, thanks."

Bruce sat in the middle of the huge bed and watched himself transform back. The footage was from Tony's POV, so he saw his own, disgustingly slimy human face look up at Iron Man with perfect trust in his eyes. He heard Tony's recorded voice sounding tired but undeniably happy as he said, "Hey, big guy, welcome back," and then the footage cut off as Tony retracted his mask. 

Bruce knew he should go find something else to eat and then join Tony in his workshop, like Tony had asked in his message. Instead, as if on autopilot, he ended up a few floors down, back in his old suite. He hadn't been back in there for weeks. Now he pulled his old duffel bag out of the closet and sat on the bed, staring into the empty bag.

He didn't think he'd been sitting there for very long when the door slid open, revealing Tony with a vivid bruise on his cheek and a pizza box in his hands.

"Uh oh," Tony said. He sat down on the bed next to Bruce. "Well, you'd better have something else to eat before you hit the road again."

Bruce ducked his head. "I--I wasn't…"

"JARVIS told me you got my message. I'm _sorry_ I wasn't there when you woke up, Brucie-goosey, but I just--I--I needed to repair my armor. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I thought you'd understand. You seemed okay last night...you weren't Hulked out for very long," Tony babbled.

"I--of course, Tony." Bruce was definitely familiar with Tony’s obsessive need to drop everything when inspiration struck him. "I was fine. I just...I don't know."

"If I’d known you’d react like this I would have dragged you down to the workshop but I thought you could use the sleep. You, uh, the Other Guy was great yesterday."

"Really, it’s fine."

"Hmm." Tony opened the pizza box, took out a slice, and set the box on Bruce's lap, nudging the empty bag off to the side. Bruce took a slice for himself and fought a moan. The granola bar had been good, but the pizza was amazing. Food never tasted as good as it did the day after a transformation.

Smugly, Tony said, "See? You can't get this if you leave New York."

"I wasn't planning to leave."

"Bruce. You've spent months beating yourself up about the Hulk's existence and trying to convince me and Pepper that you needed to run off to Timbuktu to keep us safe. Then I left you alone after a gross mission. JARVIS said you heard my message, watched the battle footage, and then instead of coming to hang out in the workshop, you came down to your old room, where I found you staring into your old duffel bag. I'm literally a genius, I can put two and two together."

"Okay, that's a...reasonable conclusion," Bruce conceded with a wince. He hadn't realized that Tony had been worrying about him leaving. "But...I wasn't. I mean I--it is always nice when you’re there when I wake up, uh, after. But the message was fine. It’s not...it’s just...I, uh, I don't know. I was just thinking how I used to come here for some quiet time. Just to have a place to myself. But I...I realized I couldn't remember the last time I came down here. There's...look, it's dusty." Bruce waved a hand out at the sleek modern dresser, now nearly empty and covered in a thin layer of dust. 

" _You_ told the housekeepers not to come in here," Tony protested.

"No, I--it wasn't a complaint," Bruce said. "Just an observation." He took another piece of pizza to avoid talking while he tried to figure out how to put his feelings into words. Tony waited--not exactly patiently, he was tapping out a staccato rhythm on the pizza box and staring at Bruce expectantly, but he kept quiet while Bruce ate. Bruce finished his slice of pizza and continued, "I...it’s hard to explain. When--when Nat found me and brought me in to SHIELD, everything I owned fit in that bag. Easily. And I...I didn’t need anything else. I didn’t want to need anything. I valued my mobility above everything else. And now, I, uh."

"Now you’re going to need a bigger suitcase?"

"Now I don’t...I don’t want one," Bruce admitted. 

Tony brightened. "No?"

Bruce smiled and shook his head. "The things I need won’t fit in a suitcase. Um, they’re not things really." He looked sidelong at Tony and added, "It’s you and Pepper. That I need. To be clear."

"Yeah, I got that." Tony smiled back and Bruce felt a flutter in his stomach. It was still hard to believe how handsome Tony was, up close and personal. And now he looked so happy. Because of Bruce?

Bruce bit his lip. "It’s just...I’d gotten so used to being alone. I thought I had to be. I thought it was the only way I could live so I might as well get used to it. But I…"

" _Don’t_ have to," Tony finished. "Like we've been trying to tell you." 

"Right."

Tony slipped an arm around Bruce’s waist. "I--I've been worrying that you'll get sick of me and leave."

Bruce laughed. "Tony! Who could get sick of you?"

"Oh, if you ask around I'm sure you could find a few people."

"Well, I'm not one of them." 

"That's good to hear. Because...I need you too."

"You've got me." Bruce leaned in and kissed Tony on the cheek. Then he gently squirmed out of Tony's one-armed embrace to stand up and picked the duffel off the floor. He started opening the room's drawers and throwing the few remaining items into the bag. "Hey, why don't you go back to the workshop? I'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

"Uh, sweetheart, I'm kind of getting mixed messages here. What with the packing and all."

Bruce shook his head. "I'm just taking the rest of my stuff upstairs so you can have the housekeeper clean in here. So, uh, so it can go back to being a guest room."

Anyone who didn't know Tony well would have thought Tony sounded perfectly casual when he asked, "Yeah? You sure? You can keep it as long as you want. We have plenty of rooms here, you know."

Bruce hadn’t actually been sure until he’d heard the quiet longing behind Tony’s response. Tony and Pepper had given Bruce so much. He could give them this. He wanted to. 

Besides, Stark Tower was really big. Bruce could find other quiet spaces if he needed them.

Trying to sound nonchalant, Bruce said, "Yeah. I'm sure. List it on Airbnb for all I care. I mean, the penthouse has a way nicer shower, so…" He trailed off and put a faded Oxford shirt--one of the few he’d brought from India--into his bag. 

Tony stood up from the bed and slipped behind Bruce, nestling his face into the crook of Bruce's neck. "You're right, it does," he murmured into Bruce's ear. Bruce swallowed hard and opened, then quickly closed, an empty drawer.

It was difficult for Bruce to think with Tony pressed up against him. "Um. Don't--don't you need to finish repairing your, uh, armor?" Tony gently nipped on Bruce's earlobe, making it _impossible_ to think.

"Mm-mm. Finished it half an hour ago. Patched it all up and coated it with a new polymer...in case that Slimer thing comes back. It was corrosive as hell. So...I'm just going to stay here in case you need help carrying your bag upstairs. It might be heavy. And then maybe we can check and make sure the shower upstairs is still in tip-top condition...gotta make sure it's meeting your expectations and all that…"

"Oh. Uh, that sounds good," Bruce said, and it was.


End file.
